1. BAROQUE AND CLASSICAL
CHAMBER MUSIC

2. WHERE DOES THE LABEL ‘CHAMBER
MUSIC’ COME FROM?
Originally the music would be performed in
a chamber or small room
This is instead f a large building, concert
hall or cathedral
Chamber music is instrumental music
written for a small group of players
The groups are labelled according to the
number of performers. E.g. Duet, trio.

3. NOTES
Chamber music can be an intimate
musical conversation
Its an opportunity for performers to work
together with precision.
There is no conductor
When rehearsing the ensemble will
usually sit in a circle or semi-circle. This
allows all players to be able to see each
other.

4. TEXTURE
In chamber music each player has their
own individual part not Doubled by any
other player.
This means that in a quartet there will be
4 independent melody lines

5. BAROQUE
Contrapuntal
Each line of music is independent from the
others.
Sometimes each line will have a separate
melody.
At other times each line will have the
same/similar melody, but will be heard
slightly apart from each other. This is
called…
Imitation

6. KEY TERMS
Counterpoint
Contrapuntal
Imitation
Homophony
Doubled

7. CLASSICAL
A characteristic of Classical music is
Melody with accompaniment.
One part has a clear melody and the
others provide an accompaniment.
This can be made up from, broken
chords, or block chords rather than
independent melodies.
Question and answer

8. DYNAMICS
Volume contrasts in Baroque music tend
to be sudden rather than gradual.
Loud phrases are often immediately
followed by quiet ones.
A reason for this is due to the
harpsichord.
The use of the piano mean crescendos
and diminuendos could be incorporated.

9. ORNAMENTS
Characteristic of baroque music.
Not all ornaments are written out on the
score.
Ornaments are less used in the classical
era.